LAKE LOUISE, Alta. — The parents of a missing search-and-rescue technician buried in deep snow on a mountain in Alberta say he died doing what he loved most.

Sgt. Mark Salesse was training with others when an avalanche swept him off the Polar Circus ice-climbing route in Banff National Park on Thursday.

Salesse’s mother, Liz Quinn, and her husband, Robert, say in a statement that military officials have updated them on the recovery mission.

They say they’ve been told that their son is beneath at least 4.5 metres of snow.

Crews are planning to try again today to reach Salesse after having to call off a short search on Monday due to the threat of further avalanches.

Salesse’s parents say if his body is not found in the next week, the search will resume in the spring.

“They will continue searching for Mark and bring our beautiful loving son home to us,” they said in their statement Tuesday. ”Our consolation is that Mark has died doing what he loved most, in the majestic mountains that so beckoned him. He chose his final resting place. He is at peace.”

Parks Canada has said that additional avalanches since Thursday — both natural and ones triggered to improve safety —have fallen on the area where Salesse, 44, is believed to be buried.

Salesse, who was based at CFB Winnipeg, was swept off a ledge by an avalanche when weather conditions changed quickly during a military exercise.

It’s believed he fell about 60 meters to a lower shelf and was covered.

More slides swept him further into a ravine bowl. Parks Canada had to trigger another avalanche to secure the area for the rescue teams.

“This, unfortunately but necessary for safety, produced a further several feet of packed snow on top of where Mark is located,” said his parents, who live in Moncton, N.B.

A spokesman for Parks Canada has said Salesse wasn’t wearing an avalanche transceiver, a device that allows rescuers to hone in on a signal and locate buried victims.

That means searchers have been relying on dogs to try to pick up a scent.

]]>http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/search-and-rescue-expert-died-doing-what-he-loved-most-parents-say/feed/1Canada ranks last in marine protectionhttp://www.macleans.ca/news/canada-ranks-last-in-marine-protection/
http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada-ranks-last-in-marine-protection/#commentsMon, 09 Jun 2014 22:18:28 +0000Amanda Shendrukhttp://www.macleans.ca/?p=565871Infographic: How does the country compare when it comes to marine protected areas?

A new report reveals that China appears to be more committed to protecting its marine areas from development than Canada. In fact, when the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society looked at the 10 countries with the largest ocean estate* and ranked them according to how much of that marine area was protected, Canada came in dead last.

Though we have the world’s longest coastline, and the seventh-largest ocean estate, our nation protects just 1.3 per cent of its oceans from development, falling behind China at 1.6 per cent and Japan at 5.6 per cent. Australia and the United States have come out on top, with 33.2 per cent and 30.4 per cent protected respectively. The chart below shows how Canada is doing in comparison.

Under the International Convention on Biological Diversity, Canada has committed to protecting 10 per cent of its oceans by 2020. Currently Canada has about 12 protected areas, shown on the map below. Canada must protect nine per cent more of its oceans in the next six years in order to comply with the convention. Do you think we can pull it off?

Here are some alarming bits from a confidential 2012 agreement between CBC News and Parks Canada:

“Parks Canada can benefit from CBC’s broadcast and online experience and platforms to reach Canadians with information in both official languages.”

“It is CBC’s intention, but not guarantee, to produce: a documentary segment for The National, an online component on cbc.ca, segments for nightly news on CBC…”

“Parks Canada shall pay to CBC a cash contribution of $65,000 CDN.”

The contract was unearthed by the QMI news agency through an Access to Information request (you can read the whole thing here) UPDATE: the identity of the ATIP requester is unknown, but the first to report on this was independent news site Blacklock’s Reporter. The document lays out a partnership that resulted in Peter Mansbridge and a CBC News crew joining Parks Canada archaeologists in Nunavut as they searched for sunken 19th century ships. The salvage mission (thus far unsuccessful) was documented over two episodes of The National.

The story was picked up by Huffington Post Canadaand various Sun newspapers. Sun News’ Brian Lilley, a regular critic of the CBC, wrote that this was a clear case of the CBC being paid for news coverage.

Late last Friday afternoon, CBC News’ Editor in Chief, Jennifer McGuire, took to her official blog to say it ain’t so.

McGuire writes that her critics have “blurry” vision: the deal was simply a way for the CBC to save money, in two ways:

“The first was to share the costs of chartering a single plane together along with communications costs for phone, email, etc. That was smarter and more fiscally responsible than paying separately. The second was to create a joint website…For us, the motivation was to create a stand-alone website… Creating such a website would have been too expensive for us to do on our own.”

McGuire says Parks Canada’s payment of $65,000 to the CBC was absolutely not payola for a segment on The National–it was reimbursement for their share of the website building costs. The Huffington Post points out that the resulting $65,000 invoice ($74,733.75, after tax) makes no reference to a website, but does say that “CBC will provide news coverage on various platforms.” There’s also no discussion of building a joint website in the contract itself, where the $65,000 fee first appears.

But let’s say that this was still somehow the case and that the money wasn’t for coverage on The National, it was for this site:

Let’s leave aside the head-scratching claim that a simple site like this, built using the CBC’s existing web architecture, somehow cost over $65,000 to produce. Instead, let’s consider the distinction that McGuire is trying to make: Parks Canada paying the CBC to build this site is somehow different than Parks Canada paying the CBC for TV news coverage.

Well, how so?

McGuire calls the site a “standalone…joint” website. It is neither. The site doesn’t stand alone, it sits under CBC.ca’s URL, in the “news” section, as a “feature.” As for being a “joint” site, which suggests it’s not the result of CBC covering Parks Canada, but of teaming up with them, there is no indication of this on the site. There is an embedded Twitter feed from Parks Canada, and you can make of that what you will, but I’d say that there is no reasonable way a visitor would be able to distinguish the site from other CBC news content or have any idea that it was paid for in any way by Parks Canada.

If indeed what Parks Canada was paying for was the website, as McGuire says, then Parks Canada was still paying CBC for news coverage. Whether it was on air or online is irrelevant.

In splitting hairs between television and Internet, between taking money for travel costs (which the CBC’s journalistic standards guide forbids) and taking money to build a website (which the guide neglects to ponder) the CBC is obfuscating, evading, and eroding its credibility.

Viewers don’t care whether or not the CBC found a loophole to its own internal rulebook. And if viewers had been told that a light, puffy adventure story of little political consequence like this was the result of a financial relationship between Parks Canada and the CBC, they might not have cared much about that, either.

But nobody likes getting duped, and no public broadcaster should be striking secret deals with their subjects over news content. It makes one wonder: is this the only such deal, or are there more? With whom?

Until now, when watching The National or visiting CBC.ca, I never imagined for a moment that the subjects of the news stories I found had paid the CBC to be there. But until the CBC makes a complete and honest account of this…well, who knows?

]]>http://www.macleans.ca/general/alberta-man-fined-7000-for-removing-ancient-fossils-from-national-park/feed/1Banff officials hunt for cougar that man fought off with skateboardhttp://www.macleans.ca/news/banff-officials-hunt-for-cougar-that-man-fought-off-with-skateboard-2/
http://www.macleans.ca/news/banff-officials-hunt-for-cougar-that-man-fought-off-with-skateboard-2/#commentsMon, 27 May 2013 03:15:00 +0000The Canadian Presshttp://www2.macleans.ca/?p=388134BANFF, Alta. – Parks Canada officials are advising people in Banff to be on alert after a man told them he fought off an attacking cougar with his skateboard.
Bill…

BANFF, Alta. – Parks Canada officials are advising people in Banff to be on alert after a man told them he fought off an attacking cougar with his skateboard.

Bill Hunt, the resource conservation manager for the Banff field unit, said the man was attacked Thursday and originally reported the incident anonymously.

But Hunt said officials tracked him down to get more information in order to find the cougar.

“I think he was reluctant to contact us right away because he’d be in trouble for striking an animal inside a national park. But of course, in that situation you’re in defence mode and it’s totally appropriate,” Hunt explained Sunday.

Hunt said the man told them he was listening to music through earbuds while walking between the townsite and an industrial area when the cougar attacked.

“He was hit from behind, knocked to the ground and instantly reacted properly. With a cougar, the correct thing to do is fight back hard and convince that cougar that you’re not going to be available for prey,” Hunt said.

“He was carrying his skateboard, so he used that skateboard in defence of himself and was able to hit the cougar with it, which stunned the animal and he was able to get away.”

Remarkably, Hunt said the man wasn’t injured. He said the man was fit and young, and was fairly tall, which he said probably worked in his favour.

Hunt said officials are tracking the cougar and hope to capture it.

“Right now we’re kind of in a heightened state of alert,” he said.

A wildlife bulletin issued by Parks Canada says there has also been a report of a cougar chasing a deer in the Banff townsite.

Park officials are restricting access to an area north of the townsite where the attack occurred and say violators risk a fine of up to $5,000.

A Canmore woman was killed by a cougar in 2001 while she was cross-country skiing near Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park.

Cougars are normally very wary and selective of their prey, Hunt said, living on deer, elk and other animals. He explained that one might take exceptional risks by coming closer to people if it had experienced a difficult winter.

Hunt said park officials aren’t sure if it’s one cougar or more, yet. Scat that’s been collected will be analysed for DNA evidence, he said. Cameras are being set up on bridges and he said hounds are also being used.

If it’s caught, Hunt said it may have to be destroyed.

“No decisions have been made yet. But If we’re certain it’s the same animal that attacked this gentleman then it’s definitely a candidate for destruction, just because that’s such unusual behaviour for a cougar, it’s a difficult thing to risk that re-occurring,” he said.

Hunt said if they catch an animal and it isn’t the one that attacked the man, it may be released elsewhere, although he said it’s difficult to find a safe place to release a cougar.

Parks Canada says people should travel in groups and keep a careful eye on children to avoid cougar encounters. People should also avoid travelling during dawn and dusk, and pets should be kept on leashes, officials say.

Carrying bear spray, making noise, and leaving the area if an animal carcass is discovered are other tips that Parks Canada says should be followed.

Listening to music is not a good idea, Hunt said.

“That’s one thing we advise people, especially right now, not to do. Don’t wear your earbuds if you’re outside around Banff. You want to be able to be alert to your surroundings,” he said.

]]>http://www.macleans.ca/news/banff-officials-hunt-for-cougar-that-man-fought-off-with-skateboard-2/feed/0Paragliding, zip lines among new activities OK’d for national parkshttp://www.macleans.ca/news/paragliding-zip-lines-among-new-activities-okd-for-national-parks/
http://www.macleans.ca/news/paragliding-zip-lines-among-new-activities-okd-for-national-parks/#commentsWed, 24 Apr 2013 18:22:34 +0000The Canadian Presshttp://www2.macleans.ca/?p=376570National park visitors could soon be zip-lining through a forest or hang-gliding over a valley under new rules approved by Parks Canada.
Spokesman Ed Jager says the new policy is…

]]>http://www.macleans.ca/news/paragliding-zip-lines-among-new-activities-okd-for-national-parks/feed/0The state of government communications in three actshttp://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/the-state-of-government-communications-in-three-acts/
http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/the-state-of-government-communications-in-three-acts/#commentsMon, 18 Mar 2013 12:00:55 +0000Aaron Wherryhttp://www2.macleans.ca/?p=361361Behold the new era of open government

Canadian Press. Internal documents show the prime minister’s department micro-managed a media event staged by Parks Canada, trying to erase the venerable agency from a public announcement while promoting the Harper government.

Postmedia. Federal librarians and archivists who set foot in classrooms, attend conferences or speak up at public meetings on their own time are engaging in “high risk” activities, according to the new code of conduct at Library and Archives Canada. Given the dangers, the code says the department’s staff must clear such “personal” activities with their managers in advance to ensure there are no conflicts or “other risks to LAC.” The code, which stresses federal employees’ “duty of loyalty” to the “duly elected government,” also spells out how offenders can be reported.

CBC. Approval for a reality show production crew to film an immigration raid at a Vancouver construction site came directly from the federal government, documents obtained by a Vancouver woman show.

Internal documents show the prime minister’s department micro-managed a media event staged by Parks Canada, trying to erase the venerable agency from a public announcement while promoting the Harper government.

The incident is a case study in communications control from the centre, a signal feature of the governing Conservatives since they first came to power in 2006.

The event was an Oct. 17, 2011, news conference in Halifax to announce an agreement to transform Sable Island, a fabled sand crescent 290 kilometres off Nova Scotia, into a national park reserve.

The deal had been meticulously negotiated by Parks Canada with the Nova Scotia government over the course of a year, and proud officials wanted a splashy announcement as a way to celebrate Parks Canada’s 100th birthday in 2011.

A media event at the Halifax Citadel, the old military fort overlooking the port city, was planned months in advance for a Monday morning, with Environment Minister Peter Kent and Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter joining Parks Canada officials for speeches and a signing ceremony.

Alas for Parks Canada, the carefully wrought plan started to unravel days before the event when a vetting team at the Privy Council Office began to pick apart the agenda, the news release and two background documents, demanding changes. The office is the central organ of the federal government, under the control of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Documents released to The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act show the close scrutiny by PCO caused headaches at Parks Canada, which was facing a Monday morning announcement with no green light from the centre as late as noon Sunday.

“We still do not have PCO approved communications products for Sable,” Mikele Cloer, a Parks Canada official in Ottawa, emailed colleagues late Friday afternoon.

“Could you please be on stand-by all weekend just in case we need you to look at/validate/approve/reject/cry over PCO’s changes please?”

With still no resolution by Sunday, Cloer again wrote: “Everybody and his dog is checking these products.”

When the Privy Council Office finally responded, officials demanded a raft of changes, many of them designed to quash Parks Canada’s identity at the event.

A so-called “backgrounder” for handout to news media, for example, erased the agency’s name altogether.

“I note the only change was that Parks Canada was ‘disappeared,’” an agency official noted. “I have never seen our name completely eliminated in this manner before.”

The stage backdrops for the news conference in Halifax were to have included a Parks Canada banner celebrating the agency’s centennial in 2011. PCO told officials to get rid of it.

“No Parks Canada banner — the brown and yellow is ugly. Please stop using this,” an unidentified official demanded in a note.

The planned agenda had an official delegation that included Kent, Dexter, Defence Minister Peter MacKay, a Nova Scotia MLA and three Parks Canada officials, including CEO Alan Latourelle and another acting as master of ceremonies.

A PCO note said to purge all three Parks Canada officials from the dais, and to find a politician to be the MC.

The original news release for the event had two paragraphs celebrating Parks Canada’s centennial and noting a recent award won by the agency from the World Wildlife Fund. All of this was purged from the final version, with no mention of Parks Canada except a reference to Kent as the minister responsible for the agency.

Harper’s central communications unit also demanded unspecified changes to Kent’s prepared speech, but the minister did not accept them.

In the end, Parks Canada CEO Alan Latourelle had to sit the in audience, not on the stage as first envisioned, though a Parks Canada official — Theresa Bunbury — did take on the master-of-ceremonies duties.

The “ugly” Parks Canada banner remained as a stage backdrop, despite PCO’s objections.

The written materials handed out at the event and posted on the web, however, remained purged of substantive references to Parks Canada, including any mention of its centennial.

Parks Canada’s initial news release for the event had quoted Peter MacKay, the minister responsible for Nova Scotia, as saying “Fifty years of conservation efforts culminate today with the signing of this agreement …”

The vetted version, however, moved the quote higher, and changed it to read: “Fifty years of conservation efforts culminate today with the Harper Government’s signing of this agreement …”

The event was much changed from the agency’s original communications plan, drawn up in July 2011, which saw the Sable Island announcement as a key opportunity for Parks Canada to make a “good first impression through well-thought out strategies that communicate who we are … what we do … how we work, and what the benefits are for Canadians.”

Asked about the vetting process for the Sable Island announcement, a Parks Canada media-relations official said there was nothing unusual.

“Communications products are in constant evolution from its creation to its dissemination to the public,” Genevieve Patenaude said in an email. “Throughout its development process, some sections may be added while others can be removed. This is common practice.”

“Parks Canada’s usual internal process for major events includes collaboration with the Privy Council Office for the development of communication products.”

A spokesman for Privy Council Office said the office “supports departments in communicating the government’s activities and policies to Canadians.”

“Part of PCO’s role is co-ordination in order to provide coherent and effective communications,” Raymond Rivet said in an email.

“For joint federal-provincial events, the identity of the Government of Canada and the participating province is used.”

The Canadian Press requested the access-to-information documents in October 2011, but the agency violated legislated deadlines, delivering 915 pages only last week in response to a complaint to the information commissioner of Canada.

]]>http://www.macleans.ca/news/harpers-communications-unit-bigfoots-parks-canada-news-conference/feed/0Environment Minister defends cuts to winter services at national parkshttp://www.macleans.ca/news/environment-minister-defends-cuts-to-winter-services-at-national-parks/
http://www.macleans.ca/news/environment-minister-defends-cuts-to-winter-services-at-national-parks/#commentsTue, 05 Mar 2013 18:56:39 +0000The Canadian Presshttp://www2.macleans.ca/?p=357103OTTAWA – The federal NDP says cuts to winter services at national parks are out of step with the mandate of Parks Canada to increase exposure to the country’s wilderness.…

OTTAWA – The federal NDP says cuts to winter services at national parks are out of step with the mandate of Parks Canada to increase exposure to the country’s wilderness.

But Environment Minister Peter Kent says the cuts make financial sense as very few people use the outdoor spaces in the winter months.

Parks Canada has stopped providing services like trail clearing or visitors centres in the winter as the result of a $29.2-million budget cut to the agency.

At some parks, volunteer groups or local governments have helped pick up some of the slack, while at others there is no service at all — even though the parks are technically open.

NDP MP Anne Minh Thu Quach says the move runs counter to the Tory government’s pledge to create jobs, given that unpaid labour is now doing government work.

But Kent tells a House of Commons committee that the agency is doing its part like all others to reduce government spending, and that the cuts allow it to focus services when the most people are there.

The affected parks include Point Pelee in southern Ontario, Riding Mountain in Manitoba, Prince Albert in Saskatchewan and Elk Island in Alberta.

Visitor numbers at parks have been on the decline for years, but the head of Parks Canada says he believes the tide is turning.

Alan Latourelle told MPs visits this past summer were up four per cent at parks and seven per cent at national historic sites.

Meanwhile, Kent says the government does want to find ways to encourage young and new Canadians to get outside more, pointing to the creation of a new urban park just outside Toronto as one element of that plan.

“It’s also a big part of Parks Canada’s very successful program, ‘Learn to Camp,’” Kent told the committee.

“Across the country for the past couple of years, young people and their families — many new Canadians who associate tents most often with refugee circumstances — are encouraged to leave the urban centres where very often they first arrive in Canada and to experience the great Canadian outdoors.”

]]>http://www.macleans.ca/news/environment-minister-defends-cuts-to-winter-services-at-national-parks/feed/0Winter access, services put on ice at national parks across Canadahttp://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/winter-access-services-put-on-ice-at-national-parks-across-canada/
http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/winter-access-services-put-on-ice-at-national-parks-across-canada/#commentsThu, 24 Jan 2013 19:54:45 +0000The Canadian Presshttp://www2.macleans.ca/?p=341625OTTAWA – Several of Canada’s national parks, long celebrated by the federal government as an “integral part of the Canadian identity,” have shut down winter services because of budget cuts.…

OTTAWA – Several of Canada’s national parks, long celebrated by the federal government as an “integral part of the Canadian identity,” have shut down winter services because of budget cuts.

The move, which followed a $29.2-million funding reduction, has forced some rural communities to do their own snow clearing with Parks Canada machines in order to continue participating in activities and attracting tourists.

In contrast to the winter parks cuts, meanwhile, the government has announced $3.9 million in grants over the past two years to help snowmobile clubs in Quebec buy new trail-grooming equipment and boost local tourism.

Affected national parks include Point Pelee in southern Ontario, Riding Mountain in Manitoba, Prince Albert in Saskatchewan and Elk Island in Alberta. The parks are technically open, but access points and trails are unplowed, visitor centres closed, and emergency services sparse.

In Forillon National park in Quebec’s Gaspe region, Parks Canada agreed this week to allow the local municipality and province pay for workers to operate the machines. Just 14 months ago, the federal government contributed $115,000 to a major cross-country ski event, La Grande Traversee de la Gaspesie, which uses the park’s trails.

At Kejimkujik in Nova Scotia, the only entrance into the park was barricaded in the fall, with the parking lot and roads left unplowed. The visitor centre was closed at Thanksgiving, and won’t reopen until Victoria Day weekend.

Parks Canada had introduced popular back-country winter camping in the park with semi-permanent huts called yurts last year, but that project appears to have been abandoned.

“Basically, you can’t get into the park unless you walk a long way. As far as most people are concerned, once that barricade goes up, the park is useless,” said Colin Mudle, a retired telecom technician who hikes in the park several times a week during the winter.

Parks Canada said budget constraints forced them to evaluate how much the parks were actually being used during the off-season. He said some people like the concept of the park being open in the winter, but don’t actually use it.

“What are the services that people are asking us to give, how many are actually participating in it, and then we have a decision to make,” said Andrew Campbell, vice-president of visitor experience.

“Does this actually make sense to spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on a service that is offered to a couple of hundred people?”

But Nancy Wood-Archer, owner of the Hawood Inn inside of Prince Albert National Park, disagrees with the characterization of the parks as poorly used during the winter.

“The three year-round businesses in our community are all owned and run by Saskatchewan families,” said Wood-Archer.

“It is very disconcerting that our government will abandon their commitment to us and see another small community close down. Considering a large percentage of our clientele in the winter are farmers and other seasonal-type employees, it is very wrong that when it is their time to relax and spend time in our parks, we close.”

Park users and local businesses near the national parks have mounted petitions, held protests in skis and snowshoes dubbed “Occupy Winter,” and pressured local MPs to restore the services.

Celes Davar, who runs an adventure tour company near Riding Mountain National Park, said the main grievance was the lack of consultation with the surrounding rural community before the change was announced.

“Because Riding Mountain is entirely surrounded by agriculture, and communities, these are loyal groups of winter users who really come out of the woodwork as soon as there’s snow,” said Davar, who is using his own money to winterize shelters in the park.

“The dilemma was suddenly that one of their most important ways of relating to Riding Mountain National Park had been pulled from underneath them.”

Local communities around Riding Mountain and Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan were so intent on using the parks, they convinced Parks Canada to allow volunteers to operate federal trail grooming machines. In Prince Albert, that means 50 km out of 180 km will be groomed, according to Wood-Archer.

Emergency services are another matter.

“During the period from November 1, 2012 — April 30, 2013, emergency services may be unavailable, limited or significantly delayed,” reads a warning on the Riding Mountain National Park website.

In Quebec’s Forillion National Park, the decision to reduce services carried a more visceral, emotional reaction. When the park was established in the 1970s, many homes were expropriated.

Parks Canada celebrated in December the fact that it has distributed 4,400 free passes to the families and descendents of those displaced, resulting in 9,000 visits over the past year.

But neither the families, nor the local community were consulted on the cuts to services at the park, according to local NDP MP Philip Toone.

“A lot of people got displaced to put this park in place, and when the federal government doesn’t put enough money into the park, people take it personally,” said Toone.

“Not only do they get kicked out of their own homes, but the trade-off was this was a good thing for the region. Well, if it’s such a good thing for the region, why is the federal government abandoning it?”

Parks Canada said they were unable to provide a full list of the affected parks to The Canadian Press because of the decentralized nature of the system.

]]>http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/winter-access-services-put-on-ice-at-national-parks-across-canada/feed/2Parks Canada proposes fee hikes in wake of government budget cutshttp://www.macleans.ca/general/parks-canada-proposes-fee-hikes-in-wake-of-government-budget-cuts/
http://www.macleans.ca/general/parks-canada-proposes-fee-hikes-in-wake-of-government-budget-cuts/#commentsWed, 23 Jan 2013 02:02:58 +0000The Canadian Presshttp://www2.macleans.ca/?p=340695OTTAWA – Cash-strapped Parks Canada is stuck between a rock — or is that Rockies? — and a hard place.
The federal agency is currently consulting the public on a…

OTTAWA – Cash-strapped Parks Canada is stuck between a rock — or is that Rockies? — and a hard place.

The federal agency is currently consulting the public on a long list of proposed fee hikes for the country’s national parks and historic sites, pointing out that the rates have been frozen since 2008 and costs are on the rise.

But at the same time as fees are going up, many services are in decline following $55 million in announced budget cuts and the resultant 600 jobs lost across the system.

Over the weekend, so-called “Occupy Winter” protesters gathered in some national parks across the country to demand a return of winter services that were abruptly shut down this year. Visitors are left to guide themselves at some historic sites, and visiting seasons have been shortened.

The agency is now looking to contract out some of its operations, including three hot springs in the Rockies and a golf course in Cape Breton.

“As Canadians, we own these parks, they’re national treasures, and we need to ensure that the government really provides the appropriate resources to Parks Canada…so that protection is prioritized and it remains accessible to everybody,” said Eric Hebert-Daly, national executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

To make matters even more complicated, parliamentarians — including Conservatives — have been putting their own pressure on the agency after hearing from unhappy constituents.

In eastern Ontario, Parks Canada’s proposal to substantially increase the user fees along the Rideau Canal and Trent-Severn Waterway was greeted with a backlash.

The agency has already backed down from its proposal only two weeks into the consultation, restoring the concept of a day pass or season’s pass at more discounted rates.

“If you make it too expensive, people won’t use it, and it’ll be self-defeating in terms of raising more revenue,” said Conservative MP Gord Brown, whose riding includes large swaths of the Rideau Canal.

“I’m happy to see that they’ve gone back to the drawing board and I and my colleagues along the Rideau and the Trent-Severn were hearing a lot from our constituents.”

Andrew Campbell, vice-president of external relations and visitor experience at Parks Canada, said the agency was given the green light to increase fees as the economy began to rebound. Most of the increases are tied to the rate of inflation.

“We still believe that we have an excellent value, if you consider an adult pass to go in for a day into any of our national parks even with the increase will just be $10,” he said, noting the current rate is $9.80.

“That’s still a reasonable amount, and much less than plenty of other leisure activities that people can do for a day.”

But the timing of the fee increases are also being questioned.

The Union of National Employees, which counts about 3,100 Parks Canada staff in its ranks, says it makes no sense to have slashed services and jobs, only to then turn around and start increasing fees.

“They didn’t think it through at the time, they announced the cuts before they announced the possible revenue to offset the cuts, and one of the reasons it’s so hot is that they didn’t consult with anybody,” said Eddie Kennedy, the union’s national executive vice-president.

“They didn’t go into any of these small communities, they didn’t on a national scale or regional scale say, ‘This is what we intend to do, what does the Canadian public think about it?’ Now they’re paying the price for it.”

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society says parks are under threat.

Federal budget cuts will significantly reduce scientific research and monitoring essential to protect our national parks. And provincial spending on parks continues to be well below what is needed, leaving them vulnerable to threats from inside and outside their boundaries. Examples include the growing problems facing national parks including New Brunswick’s Fundy and Nova Scotia’s Kejimkujik, and BC’s provincial parks.

And the Klune Lake Research Station in the Yukon has lost its federal funding.

The Kluane facility is run by the Arctic Institute of North America, a joint U.S.-Canada research operation that is administered by the University of Calgary along with the University of Alaska. The scientists at Kluane Lake say their facility is of inestimable value because it sits in one of the world’s most unique open-air laboratories. Its windows look out onto Yukon’s Kluane National Park, a 22,000-square kilometre wilderness area that boasts Canada’s highest mountains and a segment of the largest non-polar icefield on Earth.

]]>http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/the-quiet-cuts-20/feed/0Pretend you’re a backbencherhttp://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/pretend-youre-a-backbencher/
http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/pretend-youre-a-backbencher/#commentsFri, 15 Jun 2012 20:34:35 +0000Aaron Wherryhttp://www2.macleans.ca/?p=268049There is apparently some consternation around an internal memo sent to Parks Canada employees.
Parks Canada employees across the country have received letters warning they’re not allowed to criticize the …

There is apparently some consternation around an internal memo sent to Parks Canada employees.

Parks Canada employees across the country have received letters warning they’re not allowed to criticize the agency or the federal government. The directive comes as the agency cuts hundreds of jobs or curtails work hours. ”I am aware that during this time of significant transition, the concept of loyalty can have a very particular meaning. However, as employees of the public sector, our duty is to support the elected government,” employees were told.

The NDP’s Annick Papillon was rather critical in her questioning of the government’s about this during QP this morning.

Michelle Rempel: Mr. Speaker, I, too, have had the privilege of working with some of our dedicated Parks Canada staff across this country, especially those in the Rocky Mountain National Park area. I know personally we have a very close, productive working relationship with these hard-working staff who understand how to protect our natural heritage. There are ways that they work with us to ensure that we continue to invest in these great programs. Certainly that is the working relationship that we have. However, I think it is right to say it is entirely reasonable for Parks Canada staff to work toward protecting our great national heritage, including visitor experiences for visitors, and not on partisan politics.

Michelle Rempel: Mr. Speaker, the millions of Canadians who look toward our government to ensure the success of the long-term prosperity of this country refuse to drink the orange Kool-Aid that the party across offers. What we do is tell Canadians that we will ensure their long-term prosperity by promoting jobs and growth through policies, including sustainable development of our natural resources. I certainly hope that the NDP, rather than this rhetoric it continually puts forward, will actually focus on helping us grow the country in a time of global economic fragility.

Parks Canada will cut jobs and privatize some operations. Librarians will lose their jobs. Foreign aid for a dozen of the world’s poorest nations will be slashed. Defence staff who deal with suicide prevention and post-traumatic stress disorder will also be let go.

They have been told that the DND’s Deployment Health Section is being shut down, cutting four jobs, including those of suicide prevention specialists. The employees also monitor PTSD rates and traumatic brain injury.

Eight of the 18 jobs in DND’s epidemiology section also will be cut. Those include epidemiologists and researchers who analyze mental health issues such as depression, PTSD, and suicide. The unions say a trial program on injury prevention at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier also will be closed because of the budget cuts.

]]>http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/the-quiet-cuts-13/feed/15The race to go rat-freehttp://www.macleans.ca/society/life/rat-race/
http://www.macleans.ca/society/life/rat-race/#commentsTue, 13 Sep 2011 14:45:27 +0000macleans.cahttp://www2.macleans.ca/?p=213658The ‘parasite of man’ is to be eradicated as cities around the world vie to be the first to go rat-free

From time immemorial, humankind has been bothered by rats. They gnaw on energy cables, scratch through walls, spread disease, devour and desecrate agricultural goods and decimate endangered species—not to mention the constant urinating and defecating. Recently in a suburb of Johannesburg, an elderly woman died in hospital after rats chewed her eyelids. “They bite our children and leave them scared for life,” local resident Sheila Hlavangwani told the Look Local news agency. “Even our cats are afraid of them.”

For governments and organizations across the globe, enough is enough. From Dubai to the Haida Gwaii, South Africa to Saskatchewan, eradication campaigns are under way to beat back rat infestations. The battle lines are drawn across geography, ranging from remote unpopulated islands to bustling urban centres like Copenhagen, where officials promise the city will be rat-free by 2015.

Gregg Howald, North American regional director of California-based Island Conservation, works to eradicate the rodents from far-flung islands. “Eradication is a tool for something bigger, which is preventing extinctions,” says Howald, who has participated in over 20 rat eradications on islands all over the world. “You’ll see distribution of rats from subarctic conditions and subantarctic conditions all the way through to the deep tropics,” he says. “They can survive on virtually anything that has any degree of protein and nutrition.”

For centuries, rats have hitched rides on merchant ships and exploration vessels, scuttling around below deck until the boat makes land, says Howald. Once rats are introduced on remote islands, “there’s virtually a smorgasbord presented to them,” since birds and other island species aren’t accustomed to such versatile and resilient predators, Howald explains. Typically, he says, rats drag the carcasses of birds into their underground burrows, where they rip open their skulls to feast on their brains and eyeballs. Thanks to situations like this, rats are implicated in roughly half the world’s extinctions, Howald says. “That’s a staggering number.”

In an eradication campaign currently underway on two islands in British Columbia’s Haida Gwaii archipelago, Parks Canada is using shoebox-like traps full of poison-laced bait to attract and kill rats that are pillaging birds’ nests in the area. Elsewhere, like on Anacapa Island off the coast of southern California, rat eradicators have dropped poisonous bait from helicopters. As Howald explains, such initiatives can be highly successful. Ten years after Anacapa’s rat population was destroyed, “critically endangered” migratory birds have turned up to breed, says Howald. “This can be very rewarding.”

Grant Singleton, coordinator for the Integrated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC), knows that rat infestations in Southeast Asia can wipe out large swaths of agricultural goods, leading to a loss of income for farmers and a reduced food supply for the wider region. Across Asia, rats regularly destroy at least 10 per cent of a farmer’s rice crop, says Singleton. In February, rats “invaded” eight villages in the Philippines, devouring hundreds of hectares of corn, cocoa, coffee and rice. This prompted local authorities to declare a “state of calamity,” according to the IRRC website. Singleton says such sudden infestations are common in rural areas: since 2007, surges of rats have decimated produce in regions of India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Laos. “Too often these losses are tolerated because farmers think that rats are too intelligent. But this need not be the case,” Singleton said in an email to Maclean’s.

To help, Singleton and his team have developed Community Trap Barrier Systems. These consist of large plastic fences complete with rat traps that surround a “lure crop,” which is planted two to three weeks before the rest of a field. When rats try to enter through the barrier, they’re caught in the fence’s traps, after which they’re either killed or, oddly enough, sold (rat meat is eaten in many parts of Southeast Asia). Because the females give birth to as many as 18 rats every three weeks, such trapping can significantly slow population growth.

Rat infestations are also a problem in urban areas, particularly when it comes to the spread of disease. As Singleton points out, rats carry a long list of dangerous ailments, including bubonic plague and leptospirosis, which can induce liver failure and kidney damage.

Although the complete eradication of rats from urban areas is an elusive goal, cities and regions have had success. Budapest, for example, has claimed to be effectively rat-free since 1972. But perhaps no place has been more successful than Alberta, which has boasted an absence of rats for over 50 years. Only 12 to 18 rats turn up each year in the province, says Phil Merrill, a veteran of the province’s rat patrol. Based on this long-term triumph over the persistent vermin, Merrill offers hope to all would-be rat eradicators: “They’re a parasite of man,” he explains. “They can be controlled.”

Parks Canada researchers came upon one of the most fabled shipwrecks in marine archaeology this week in Canada’s Arctic. The HMS Investigator sank in the frigid waters of Mercy Bay 157 years ago after it was abandoned by its crew when it became locked in ice during a search for a legendary expedition headed up by Sir John Franklin.

Environment Minister Jim Prentice was among the first people to get a close-up view of the wreck of the HMS Investigator just a few days after it was found by the Parks Canada team.

“We were able to position our Zodiac immediately above the Investigator to peer down in the icy Arctic water, which is crystal-clear,” Prentice said in an interview from Mercy Bay. “It sits perfectly upright in 11 metres of water. When you look down on it, you’re able to see in exquisite detail all the decking and the ship’s timbers and so on. It’s an incredible thing to see.”

The ship’s captain, British explorer Robert McClure, is credited with discovering the Western entrance of the Northwest Passage after he was dispatched by the British government to locate Franklin and his crew, who’d set sail on the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror. But the experience was a harrowing one for McClure and his fellow sailors.

McClure and the 69-member crew aboard the Investigator quickly became trapped in pack ice, unable to either press on or retreat. The men were forced to endure two savage winters in the arctic while frantically searching for a way out. In all, it would be three years before McClure and the debilitated survivors of the expedition were finally rescued by another British vessel, the HMS Resolute. Not everyone had made it, though. The day before the research team came across the wreck of the Investigator, they found the unmarked gravesites of three sailors who died of scurvy just before McClure ordered the crew to abandon the ship.

Even after abandoning the Investigator, McClure’s adventure was far from over. The Resolute, too, soon became trapped in ice forcing the men aboard to spend another winter in the Arctic. By the time McClure made it back to England aboard the HMS Northern Star, he’d been gone four years.

He never did find Franklin nor his ships, and archeaologists have been looking for the Erebus and Terror ever since.

“Franklin’s ships are physical links to some of the greatest stories of human exploration on this planet,” says James P. Delgado, the president of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M. Delgado, who’s participated in archeaological searches in the Arctic before, says the discovery of the Investigator is “significant not only to Canada, but also to the world.” Even though Franklin’s ships remain an elusive target for nautical archaeologists who’ve come to treat them as a holy grail of sorts, Delgado believes the Investigator could yield “written records, even photographs that will add more detail to a story that essentially ended with the last Inuit sightings of the last of Franklin’s crews.”

Parks Canada’s research team is currently searching the remains of the Investigator using a robot—known as Little Bruce—to take pictures and video of the wreck. It’s still not clear how much the artifacts found onboard will add to the trove of knowledge about the interactions between the sailors and the Inuit, but for the time being, the discovery itself stands out as a remarkable accomplishment, says Prentice. “It represents the convergence of the history of Arctic adventure with the history of Inuit occupation,” he says. “This is a continuous record of our sovereignty.”